Alan Ritchson wants faith-based movies to succeed, so more arise

Hollywood star Alan Ritchson is advocating for more faith-based films in the industry to spread God's name all across the world.

Alan Ritchson, who is well-known for portraying Jack Reacher in the Amazon Prime series Reacher, as well as Gloss from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, is speaking out about the status of faith-based movies in the film industry.

In what is called a "Prayer Call," Kyle Thompson from Catalyst and Sermon.net hosts a Zoom call for guests where pray and have conversations. Ritchson, Kevin Downes and Jon Gunn joined Thompson for this "Prayer Call" where they talked about their upcoming movie called Ordinary Angels.

Ordinary Angels is made by the same company (Kingdom Story) that produced Jesus Revolution, American Underdog, I Can Only Imagine, and I Still Believe.

When talking about the plot of the movie, Ritchson calls it a movie with a story that he wants to be a part of.

The film centres on Sharon Stevens (Hilary Swank), a fierce but struggling hairdresser in small-town Kentucky who discovers a renewed sense of purpose when she meets Ed Schmitt (Alan Ritchson), a widower working hard to make ends meet for his two daughters. With his youngest daughter waiting for a liver transplant, Sharon sets her mind to helping the family and will move mountains to do it. What unfolds is the inspiring tale of faith, everyday miracles, and ordinary angels.

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"God continually shows up in our world in a way that kind of boggles our mind," says Ritchson. "Because we, for whatever reason, I think we continue to buy into the idea that...God chooses heroes to do His work. And it's just never been the case. It's the broken and the dysfunctional that God proves His power and strength through. And this a story of that, too. It's important that we remember that those who maybe struggle to follow the rules, who don't look like the perfect Christians, who are the broken, are the people that God has a funny way of expressing Himself through. And that story is very much told in Ordinary Angels."

The actor drew attention that while some Hollywood executives only care about the money brought in from the box offices, it doesn't matter because it's still getting the word of God out in movie theatres all across the world.

"If that's where the pulpit is for people who wouldn't normally step foot in a church, then that's still a great way to have that conversation. It matters that these films get supported."

When there's an overwhelming amount of support for faith-based movies, Ritchson says that it creates an awakening in Hollywood, to the culture, the people and the film industry, and encourages positive and meaningful change.